Confectioners convention comes to town

Busloads of confectioners from across the United States rolled into Beaver County Friday to sink their sweet teeth into some local chocolates.

Anderson’s Candies in Baden and Rosalind Candy Castle in New Brighton hosted tours of their facilities for attendees of the Retail Confectioners International Annual Convention and Industry Expo, which took place this week in Pittsburgh.

Ted Gagianas, production manager and head candy maker at Anderson’s, said it was great to meet fellow confectioners and share production tips.

“We’ve used some of the ideas we’ve brought back,” he said. “It’s nice to go see, because it gives you a fresh look on things.”

Bernard Garbusjuk, owner of Boehms Chocolates in Issaquah, Wash., said it is interesting to see the different styles of presentation in western Pennsylvania.

“In Seattle, [chocolate] is much more avant-garde and complicated,” he said. “Here it is much more straightforward.”

Garbusjuk’s daughter Narissa noted that chocolate-covered pretzels and milk chocolate are much more popular here than in the Seattle area, where chocolates are often mixed with exotic flavor combinations like ginger and hibiscus.

Gagianas agreed, and said milk chocolate is a staple in our region — along with the milk chocolate-covered pretzel.

“There’s something about that sweet and salt and crunch,” he said. “It’s addictive.”

Rosalind president Jim Crudden said chocolate-covered pretzels are one of his top sellers, along with white French cream chocolates and peanut butter meltaways.

Several tour guests were surprised to see that many of Rosalind’s chocolates are hand-dipped — a method few confectioners still use.

Roberta Temple of New Brighton is one of Rosalind’s three hand-dippers and has worked at the store for 25 years.

“From what we’ve been told, this is a dying art,” she said.

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